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Book Review: Suck-U-Bus (New Adult Occult) by S.C. Mendes and Nikki Noir

cover art for Suck-U-Bus by S.C. Mendes and Nikki Noir

Suck-U-Bus (New Adult Occult) by S.C. Mendes and Nikki Noir

Blood Bound Books, 2023

ISBN: 9781940250588

Available::Paperback, KIndle edition

Buy: Amazon.com

 

 

This dark and crazy heavy metal horror is the first book co-written by two very good authors, S.C. Mendes and Nikki “Spleaze Queen” Noir.  The plot line is excellent:  a nice tweaking of the classic “we sold our souls for rock n’ roll’  trope.  How does it fare?  Well…make no mistake, it’s good, it just never feels like the overdrive gear kicks in and blows you away, which is what both authors do.

 

The band Suck-U-Bus (succubus), led by three women called the Mothers, promote their legend online and at shows.  After each show, three lucky winners get a meet-and -greet on the tour bus…with a demon, and they must have, um, carnal relations with it.  That’s the price for the band’s success.  The demon makes them famous, but needs to indulge in his devilish desires after each show.  Lisa Hummer and her brother Danny go to the show, and Danny gets chosen. Next thing, he is following the band everywhere, but NOT doing well.  Alarmed, Lisa goes after him, learning as she goes about the misfortunes of prior backstage winners.  In the process, she gets pulled into the dark legend-or-reality-that is Suck-U-Bus.

 

Those are the basics.  As far as writing, the two authors work well together.  It’s a good blend of the darkness Mendes usually brings to his writing, with the over-the-top insanity of Noir..  The pacing is decent, the story just never quite explodes all over the pages.  There is some real cleverness to it, though.  Lisa’s doubts about the reality of what is happening demonstrate this: is all the demon stuff true, or is this one of the best metal hoaxes ever, a gimmick to get money by using fake exorcisms and possessions? It’s over too soon, but the book does put together a nice final section and a banger of an ending: the final demon confrontation felt like classic Nikki Noir all the way.

 

Bottom line: it’s a decent collaboration, but I suspect the authors can pull a better one out of their trick bag. Let’s hope they do another.  Fun error: the song in the book should have been ‘Necropedophile,’ not ‘Necropedilia.’   Like the authors, I also happen to be quite familiar with the Cannibal Corpse discography.  Recommended. (The book. Well, the music too!)

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on January 24, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

 

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope.

Redhook, 2022

ISBN-13 ‎978-0316377911

Available:  Paperback, Kindle edition, Audible

Buy:   Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com

 

The Monsters We Defy takes place in an alternate Washington, D.C. during the Harlem Renaissance. This world has Enigmas (similar to demons) who will offer you a gift (Charm) always in company with a catch (Trick). Clara has the second sight. Her Charm is a mystery, but her Trick is to help anyone who asks. A woman brings her son, who has become unresponsive, to Clara for help, but there is a ward around the cause that prevents her from helping. The condition spreads through the poor Negro population, with the “Afflicted” then being collected in trucks and disappearing. The Enigma who holds Clara’s debt, the Empress, tells her a ring worn by Miss Josephine, an opera singer in cahoots with the mob, is the cause of the Afflicted. The Empress says she will clear Clara’s debt and that of any who help her acquire the ring, except the Enigma called the Man in Black.

 

Clara meets Israel Lee, a musician in debt to the Man in Black, who also wants the ring and to prevent the Empress from getting it. Israel’s gift is to be able to hypnotize with his music and be admired by all, but his Trick is that he cannot have true friends. In addition, she meets Jesse Lee, who can erase memories, at the expense of his true love being able to recognize or remember him, and Aristotle, an actor who can play any role but never be seen as himself. They, and Clara’s albino roommate, a former circus freak, plan to take back the ring at a party for the Luminous 400, the wealthy Black upper class.

 

Clara is based on Carrie Johnson, a 17 year old girl , who shot and killed a detective who broke into her bedroom during the Red Summer of 1919. She was convicted, but got a second trial where she was freed. Langston Hughes also appears as a minor character. There’s also a “drag bsll” which is pretty cool! Zelda is a really fun character and learning about Black albinism was really interesting. Penelope had challenges with researching during the pandemic, but the world-building is great, and this is a fascinating read. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Posted on September 6, 2023 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Blackwood, Library Edition by Evan Dorkin, art by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish

Cover art for Blackwood Library Edition by Evan Dorkin

Blackwood, Library Edition by Evan Dorkin, art by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish

Dark Horse Comics, 2022

ISBN-13: 9781506731834  

Available: Kindle, Comixology, hardback  ( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

Wren Valentine, Reiko Oyuki, Dennis Wolchinski, and Stephen Heller, teenagers with mysterious pasts and otherworldly abilities, enroll in Blackwood College after they receive hefty scholarships. Blackwood is no normal college, as they soon discover. The odd old lady at the train station is more than she seems. A well on the property has the power to resurrect the dead. The dean transforms into… something… shortly after the new students arrive, and then curses them and the acting dean, Dean Colby, binding them to the fate of the college. A two-headed monkey named Chimp Ho Tep wreaks havoc with the investigation into the mysteries of campus. Deadly mutant insects attack the school. Bodies go missing, or are stolen. Ins.P.E.C.T. (the Institute for Psychic Experimentation, Combat, and Training) is trying to encroach on the investigation. All hell breaks loose at a widely attended funeral when portals open and creatures overrun the campus. 

 

Lies and betrayal can be found around every corner. And nobody can find the Book of Despair. All the while, Dean Crosby, former Dean Ogden’s assistant Sherry Allen, Sherry’s son Jamar, and the rest of the faculty, plus the campus librarian, are trying to keep everyone safe and sane. 

 

There is so much going on in Blackwood, but the threads of each storyline are surprisingly easy to keep untangled. The characters are well written. It’s easy to like the students, and their interactions with each other and faculty fit well for their ages and the life experiences we are privy to. Sprinkled throughout are some amusing genre references. Keep an eye out for these.

 

This deluxe library edition includes the first two volumes of Blackwood and a sketchbook with character references, storyboards, and alternate covers and pinups by Jordy Bellaire, Becky Cloonan, Tyler Crook, Andy Fish, Andrew MacLean, Peach Momoko, David Rubín, Declan Shalvey, and Evan Dorkin with Sara Dyer. Artwork within and between the chapters is vibrant, and beautifully rendered. I read an electronic version of the book, so I have not seen a physical copy. It is advertised as an oversized format with 232 pages. The price tag on this is $39.99. Photographs I have seen show a gorgeous book, but it might be worth it to lay hands on the book before committing to it. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on February 25, 2023 by , Reply
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